Today marks the 100th birthday of Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect whose work both reflected and defined a post-World War II American national aesthetic. Saarinen, who passed away in 1961, was born on August 20, 1910 in Kirkkonummi, Finland, a few miles southwest of Helsinki. Saarinen’s father, Eliel, was a
Today, August 13, marks the 111th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s birth. His movies have become enduring classics, and many remain as surprising as when they were when first released. The book Hitchcock’s Music by Jack Sullivan, examines the use and importance of music in Hitchcock’s films. Sullivan describes Hitchcock as
This summer, the International Center for Photography in New York is presenting the exhibition For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, curated by Maurice Berger, a professor at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The show presents film and television clips, photography, newspapers, and
This summer the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute is presenting the exhibition Picasso Looks at Degas. The Clark’s website is filled with information about each aspect of the show. They also have the checklist of works and an opportunity to download parts or all of the audio tour. If
Peter Stothard, editor of the Times Literary Supplement, recommends Berkshire from the Pevsner Architectural Guides in his weekly column, “The Best of Brit Lit,” for The Daily Beast. Check out the whole series for more books on architecture throughout the British Isles.
Today, Tutankhamun is perhaps one of the most well known out of the many ancient Egyptian pharaohs – artifacts from his tomb have been displayed throughout the world. Before the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, though, archaeologists first came upon remains from his mummification and funeral. Tutankhamun’s Funeral includes early 20th
Today’s New York Times features an interview with Alice T. Friedman, author of American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture. Check out the piece and discover why glamour is “no mere aesthetic.”
This morning The Wall Street Journal featured a nice review of Yale Press’s new release of Hobbes’ “Leviathan”, edited by Ian Shapiro and part of YUP’s “Rethinking the Western Tradition” series. Written by Jeffrey Collins, the review discusses not only Hobbes’ fundamental conceptions of man in nature vs. man in
Today is what would have been Philip Johnson’s 104th birthday. Philip Johnson was a renowned architect whose work covered the 20th century and many of its architectural styles. Coincidentally, questions of 20th and 21st century architecture have been appearing in the news recently, as Vanity Fair has published results of
From May 1st until August 7th, the Brooklyn Museum has been presenting the exhibition American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection. The exhibit is a celebration of the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection, which is being combined with the costume collection of the Metropolitan Museum, which is holding its own counterpart